Traditionally, television networks advertised new shows and movies in newspapers, magazines, billboards, and on their own networks. For example, if a network were launching a new television series, the network might spend significant money on a cross-platform advertising campaign across traditional paper media, on their own network, and sometimes on other television networks that draw viewers of similar demographics, or of demographics likely interested in the new series.
In recent years, however, people have started spending more and more time browsing content on the Internet, as opposed to traditional sources. As a result, the value of advertising on web pages has risen significantly, and techniques for targeting demographics of interest have become very advanced. Now, even though television networks have a large platform for advertising their own content, they are increasingly advertising their new television shows and movies on the Internet. It is now common to see ads for new television shows and movies while browsing news sites, blogs, and other content publishers.
Each time an Internet advertisement is shown to a website visitor is known as an “impression.” When the user is shown the advertisement, the user may select, or “click,” on the advertisement, or may take another “action,” such as completing an online form to request more information. If the user later purchases the product, the purchase is referred to as a “conversion” of the impression.
Advertisers may be interested in impressions (e.g., if they are trying to increase awareness of a brand), clicks (e.g., if they are trying to provide more information about a product), or conversions (e.g., if they are trying to make sales or get new users to sign up for services). Advertisers may pay advertising networks and therefore publishers based on, for example, impressions, clicks, or conversions over the course of an advertising campaign. Typically, an advertiser may have a spending plan that specifies how the advertiser wishes to spend its budget during a campaign.
When online ads are advertising products or website, the advertisers may track and appreciate the value of those ads based on their payments for their desired clicks, conversions, etc. In other words, a website owner may be pleased to pay for clickthroughs to their website if that is their primary advertising objective. Likewise, a product vendor may be pleased to pay for conversions if sales are their primary advertising objective. However, when online ads are advertising television content, the advertisers (i.e., television networks, creators, distributors, etc.) may be unable to ascertain the full value of their advertising expenditures. For example, a user might view an advertisement for a television series, and even click through to view the network's website about the television series. However, while the television network may derive value from the user viewing the website, traditionally, the network may never know if the user eventually viewed the series on their network (i.e., on television), which was likely their primary advertising objective.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods for enabling requests for electronic programming content through Internet content or advertising. More specifically, a need exists for systems and methods for enabling Internet users to request electronic programming content, such as television content from a television carrier, by interacting with Internet content and/or advertising.